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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28353798">The Disease Called Love</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DecadentCollectionDestiny/pseuds/DecadentCollectionDestiny'>DecadentCollectionDestiny</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Based on a Vocaloid Song, Dystopia, F/M, Hospitals, Sad Ending</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:15:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,062</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28353798</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DecadentCollectionDestiny/pseuds/DecadentCollectionDestiny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Aito Hisakawa and Sora Nakamura are admitted to the hospital, the doctors are baffled by their mysterious illness. As their symptoms worsen, it becomes clearer to them that what they need is something no doctor can provide...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Disease Called Love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a short story based on a song of the same name by Neru featuring Kagamine Rin and Len.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They were found by the sleek silver ambulances on the ground near the outskirts of town, both unconscious. Their limbs were entangled, arms and legs intertwined, the female’s long hair hopelessly knotted, the male’s glasses cracked. Each was bleeding heavily from injuries they had received falling to the hard pavement. The paramedics quickly separated them and wheeled them into the bays of the ambulances, which then raced, screaming, towards the center of town.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shortly, the eyes of the female began to flicker open. Her vision swam as she tried to regain focus. She became aware of a tube in her nose, a needle in her arm. A woman in an immaculately white uniform stood over her. “Young woman, can you hear me?” she asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“…Yes,” she mumbled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What is your name?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My… my name…” she choked out breathlessly. The bumpy road made her voice shake. “S… Sora Nakamura.” She let out a raspy cough. “Where… where’s Aito?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aito?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora attempted to raise her head, despite the buzzing, pounding sensation. “Aito… Hisakawa. Where is he?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you referring to the male who was with you?” asked the woman. “He is in another ambulance.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is… is he alright?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“His condition is unclear, as is yours,” stated the woman. “I am surprised that you would inquire his status before your own.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Upon hearing this, Sora began to shake uncontrollably. She felt a sharp pain in her chest and emitted a gasp, falling back upon the thin pillow of the gurney and losing consciousness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>…</span>
  <span>病名は愛だった…</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The ambulances soon arrived at the enormous, sprawling hospital and rushed each of the two patients into a nearly empty room with spotless floors. Each had their wounds hastily bandaged and remained unconscious as medical attendants watched silently and recorded data on clipboards. The slow, steady pulse of heart monitors was the only sound in either room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eventually, a whining, droning sound in his ears stirred Aito awake. He groaned softly. His eyelids heavy, he managed to pry them open. Discovering that he was in a room he didn’t recognize, wearing clothing he didn’t recognize, and with people he didn’t recognize, the sluggish beeps of his monitor began to accelerate.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wh…” he began with a wince of pain. “Where am I?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You are in the hospital,” said a man who sat on a stool by his bedside. “Can you tell me-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where’s-” Aito interrupted him, looking around the room. Despite the fact that his glasses were folded on a table beside the bed, he could make out through a large window of his room a senseless figure on a bed in the room adjacent. “Sora!” Immediately, Aito lunged forward, leaping from his bed, unaware of the IV in his right upper arm. The needle was ripped violently from his arm as Aito raced to the window, practically collapsing against it as he placed his palms on the glass.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Young man!” cried the man, standing up sharply. “What are you doing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s wrong?” asked Aito breathlessly, not taking his eyes off of the unconscious body of the woman in the next room. Her eyes were closed, her mouth was half-open, and she was pale, pale as death. “Is she okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Young man,” continued the man uneasily, stepping towards him. “You must return to bed at once. Your condition is unstable-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aito whipped his head around to glare at the man. He began to feel faint, and his arm throbbed where the needle had been. “Is. She. Okay?” he insisted through gritted teeth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It is unknown,” the man explained quickly. “She has not yet regained consciousness. Now, please, return to bed. This woman is none of your concern.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes… Yes, she is…” Aito’s head began to feel heavy. His whole body shaking, he took a staggering step towards the bed, but his knees buckled and he began to fall to the floor. The man quickly caught him and practically carried him back to the hospital bed. A nurse bandaged his arm, which was still gushing blood, and replaced the IV in his other arm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Remain still,” said the man, seating himself back on the stool at Aito’s bedside. “You must not exert yourself.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aito laid his head on the pillow and closed his eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now,” said the man, taking up his clipboard. “What is your name?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aito Hisakawa,” said Aito, his eyes still closed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What is your age?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“18.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Describe your symptoms. Are you in pain?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aito nodded silently.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where is the pain?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My chest. My head. My stomach. Mostly my chest.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How long have you been experiencing these symptoms?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aito took a deep breath. “I first noticed it about a year ago… but it wasn’t as bad then as it is now. It’s… been hurting all the time for about a month… and then… it got worse...”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Understood,” said the man. Aito could hear scribbling on the clipboard. A beep was heard as an instrument was swiped across Aito’s forehead.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your body temperature is exceptionally high,” said the man. “It may be necessary to conduct several tests to determine your condition.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Suddenly, the sound of a door opening interrupted the man. “Doctor,” said a new voice. “Come quickly. The fever of patient Nakamura has risen drastically.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aito’s eyes snapped open. “Wh-What?” he asked shakily. “S… So…” He struggled to sit up, although his body felt like lead. Looking through the window, he saw people in uniforms crowded around the bed in the next room. Aito’s vision swam and his head began to spin. “Sora…” he managed to whisper before all the blood drained from his face and he collapsed onto the bed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>…</span>
  <span>病名は愛だった…</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>A bright light reached Sora’s eyes through her closed eyelids, and the burning sensation in her chest awakened her. She opened her eyes to the unnerving sight of several unfamiliar faces peering at her from above.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Young woman,” asked the doctor. “Are you able to speak?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes,” Sora croaked, fidgeting and sweating under the heavy bedclothes. She raised her head and, squinting under the harsh fluorescent lights of the room, looked about. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse, through the window, of the pale frame of Aito on the bed in the next room. She gasped. “Aito!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The doctor quickly raised his hands. “Please, calm yourself,” he said. “Remain still.” Sora lowered her head, still keeping her eyes on the pulsing green light of the heart monitor at Aito’s bedside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can… Can I go see him?” Sora asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Absolutely not,” said the doctor. “You are too weak. You must remain in bed. In addition, one or both of you may be contagious. It is necessary to keep patients isolated.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora sighed, too weak to argue.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The doctor picked up the clipboard from the table beside Sora’s bed. “Describe your symptoms, please.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora’s eyes slid shut once again. “My chest hurts. My stomach hurts. My head hurts.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How interesting… Identical…” The doctor noted the information on his clipboard. “Can you describe your symptoms in greater detail?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora rubbed her eyes wearily. “My chest… it feels like there’s a weight on it.” She placed her hand to her heart. “There’s just this… aching feeling. Like something’s pulling at my heart. And sometimes it’s hard to breathe.” Looking up at the ceiling, she took a deep breath. “My stomach feels like… something’s moving inside it. Like this fluttering sensation. And my head is just super fuzzy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I see,” the doctor nodded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But…” Sora continued weakly. “Aito… How… how is he?”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Irregular heart rate…” said the doctor, ignoring Sora’s question. “High fever…”</span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora cleared her throat. “Um… doctor?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes?” asked the doctor, still preoccupied.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How is Aito?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He lost consciousness a number of minutes ago,” said the doctor, his eyes still on the clipboard. “Now, it is mandatory to begin the medication process immediately, to attempt to lower your fever and restore your heart rate to regularity.” He turned to a nurse, who stood nearby holding a tray containing many syringes with sharp metal needles. He picked up the first syringe and flicked it with his finger. “Due to the fact that your illness is undetermined, it is necessary to attempt several different medications in order to find one that will have an effect…” The doctor turned to Sora and pushed the sleeve of her hospital gown up to her shoulder. “Remain still, young woman.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora squeezed her eyes shut, the ache in her heart growing more intense.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>…</span>
  <span>病名は愛だった…</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Days passed. The two patients spent them slipping in and out of consciousness, so much so that neither ever found themselves to awake at the same time as the other. They felt neither hunger nor thirst, as their nutrients, along with several different types of medicine, were supplied directly into their bloodstreams from the IVs which remained constantly in their arms. Their waking moments were filled with injection after injection of medicine. Nothing made any difference. All the while their chests throbbed, their lungs ached, and their ears rang.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>During the time each was awake, all there was to do was gaze through the window at the sleeping form of the other, until the pain became too great and they would succumb to unconsciousness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At one point, about a week after their admission to the hospital, Aito groggily awoke and, out of habit, immediately looked to the window. What he saw that day made his breath catch in his throat: many nurses and doctors were wheeling Sora’s bed out of her room, with Sora herself asleep in it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aito coughed. “Where are they taking her?” he asked the nurse sitting nearby.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aito, with great difficulty, lifted a hand to point at Sora’s bed, disappearing through the door of her room. “Sora.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She is being taken to have tests performed on her, just as you were earlier today,” explained the nurse. “It is hoped that these tests may aid in her diagnosis, and possibly yours as well, due to the fact that the both of you seem to be in possession of the same illness.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.” Aito laid his head weakly back down on the pillow. “How… how is she doing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She is no better and no worse than yourself.” The nurse bent to take Aito’s temperature. “I am curious as to why you ask this question. Should you not be more concerned for yourself? Why do you concern yourself with the wellbeing of this woman?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I… don’t know,” said Aito. “I just… care about her. I want her to be well. I would rather her be well than me. I can’t explain it. I just can’t.” As he spoke, he looked over once again through the window. Seeing the empty room made the pang in his chest worsen and his lungs tighten. He looked up at the nurse. “Haven’t you ever had someone who you cared about more than yourself?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course not,” said the nurse, washing her hands in the sink. “You should know that. Such sentiments have not existed in society for centuries. What you are saying is entirely foreign to me.” The nurse took up the clipboard beside Aito’s bed and made a note. “…delirious…” she mumbled to herself as she wrote.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aito turned his face away from her and grumbled under his breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>…</span>
  <span>病名は愛だった…</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Sora returned from testing, she waited, awake but listless, in her bed for the results, her body burning with fever. She watched through the window as the nurse in the next room made a final check on the senseless Aito, then exited his room and entered hers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you experiencing any improvements in your symptoms?” she asked as she drew a pair of fresh medical gloves from a box.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora shook her head. “Is Aito doing any better?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” replied the nurse. She shook her head. “I cannot help but find it exceedingly strange how neither of you seem to be concerned with your own wellbeing. A short while ago, Aito told me that you are a person for whom he cares more than himself. It continues to puzzle me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He… He said that?” Sora’s lungs seemed to contract. She suddenly found it nearly impossible to breathe. She closed her eyes and drew thin, shaky breaths through her nose, trembling all over.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The nurse hurried to the IV and turned a knob. “Remain calm,” she instructed Sora. “Take deep breaths.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“May…” Sora choked out. “May I… see him? Please?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” said the nurse firmly. “You may not.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>An iron fist grasped Sora’s heart tightly, and she coughed and wheezed. “Why not?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This has been explained to you many times,” said the nurse. “If you are exposed to him, both of your illnesses may worsen. It is unknown if your disease is contagious, so we have been instructed to take extreme caution. The risk is too high.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora sighed and closed her eyes. “You don’t understand,” she whispered. “You just don’t understand.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What did you say?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Just then, the doctor entered the room, holding several sheets of paper. “Doctor,” the nurse greeted him. “What are the results?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The patient is negative for all illnesses tested for today, just like patient Hisakawa,” said the doctor, addressing the nurse and ignoring Sora. “We shall continue testing tomorrow.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>…</span>
  <span>病名は愛だった…</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aito awoke late that night. It was dark. There was no one but himself in the room. He blinked a few times to clear his vision and, once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he looked through the window into Sora’s room. His eyes widened when they landed on her bed. Sora was awake and looking at him. She gasped when they made eye contact. He saw his name on her lips.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Looking directly into her eyes, Aito heard the ringing in his ears grow louder and higher pitched. Still, seeing her made something stir inside of him, and, despite the pain, he began to sit up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cautiously setting his feet on the floor, Aito stood. The room seemed to rock from side to side, and he gripped the pole from which his IV dangled for balance. He looked over at Sora, who was also slowly, shakily, getting to her feet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The IV was on wheels, so Aito wheeled it alongside him as he stepped gingerly across the room, the linoleum cold under his bare feet. Clinging tightly to her IV all the way, Sora also crossed her room towards the window. Aito could see her face turning red from the exertion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They each reached the window, now less than a foot apart, but with the sheet of glass separating them. Staring into Sora’s eyes, Aito heard his heartbeat grow louder in his ears. He reached up a hand and placed it on the glass. Sora did the same, placing her hand directly opposite his. Feeling her closeness, but unable to reach her, Aito’s chest ached. He so desperately wanted to speak to her, to touch her, to reach through the glass and be close to her once more. A single tear was squeezed out of his left eye.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Seeing Aito cry, Sora’s face suddenly crumpled. She doubled over, clutching her chest and leaning heavily on the glass. Aito jumped.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora glanced back at him with a pained expression, and took a cautious step towards her bed. However, her legs began to wobble, and she fumbled for a nearby table and leaned on it for support, not realizing that it was on wheels. The table rolled, knocking a tray of syringes onto the floor. Sora lost her balance and collapsed to the floor. Her left knee made contact with one of the syringes on the floor, breaking the glass and spilling blood across the floor. She remained motionless on the floor, her dark hair tossed over her face, her body limp and cold.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aito placed his right hand to his heart, his throbbing, throbbing heart. He peered through the glass, his lungs becoming tighter as he realized his powerlessness. He stood stock-still, the crushing pain nearly unbearable and his vision growing dim, but unable to take his eyes off of Sora. Only the realization that the nurses must not find him out of bed in the morning was enough to force him to tear himself away from the window. He took a staggering step backwards, his head reeling, and was only just able to make his way back to his bed before losing himself to the darkness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>…</span>
  <span>病名は愛だった…</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The morning came with the nurses making the puzzling discovery of the broken syringes and pool of blood on the floor of Sora’s room. How could this have happened, they wondered, with Sora asleep in her bed, seemingly since the previous night. They cleaned and investigated the room thoroughly and, when they found nothing else out of the ordinary, determined the incident to be nothing more than a freak accident. There were more pressing matters at hand. Both patients now reported choking sensations, as if they were being strangled. Their lungs were becoming more and more encumbered, and finding it difficult to draw in air. Each patient was given an oxygen tube, which remained in their noses, supplying oxygen to their lungs twenty-four hours a day, but this did little to ease the pain. The pain soon became so great that the patients were forced to depend upon the heavy amounts of painkillers administered to them several times a day to keep the pain from rendering them permanently unconscious. Nothing the doctors or nurses did seemed to have any effect on any of their symptoms. Not the IVs, not the injections, not the oxygen.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>What followed in the next several days was more and more tests for both patients: countless scans under machines, copious amounts of blood drawn, and probing and prodding by numerous doctors. Each endured these tests without a sound and without a thought other than of the one who slept in the room adjacent. All the while their fevers rose, their heart rates dropped, and the pain continued to grow. Each was never able to stay awake for more than an hour at a time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At the end of the long, weary day, the doctor entered Sora’s room holding the file that had grown exponentially since her admission. “Young woman,” he addressed Sora, who was lying motionless with her eyes closed. “Are you awake?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes,” said Sora quietly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have the results of your tests,” said the doctor, opening the file. “Unfortunately you have tested negative for all diseases in our current records. Therefore, we are unable to pinpoint your exact condition.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What about Aito?” asked Sora weakly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The same is true for him as well,” said the doctor. “The both of you are in possession of an unknown illness, the likes of which have never before been seen by a medical professional.” He examined the monitors near Sora’s bed and made notes of their data. “Your symptoms worsening as they are, it is likely that you have only a few months to live.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora’s eyes blinked open and she struggled to sit up. “Wh-What?” she asked. “A-Aito too?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The doctor nodded. “Yes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This information was like a heavy pipe being swung into Sora’s chest. Her lungs became devoid of air as they struggled to intake oxygen. “Please,” she croaked. “I don’t want to die.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nobody wants to die,” said the doctor. “But in some cases, it is inevitable. Yours is one such case. You must accept it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora buried her head in her hands, experiencing a welling up inside her that felt as if it would tear her apart.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t… want to accept it,” she said slowly. “I… I want Aito and I t-to leave this hospital on our own two feet…” Sora looked through the window to Aito’s bed and found that he was awake and looking back at her. His brow furrowed, his mouth turned down, he looked at her with an expression on his face that made a sharp pain pierce her heart. She turned back to the doctor, tears now pouring down her face. “P-Please… I want to live to be near Aito again… Please… Please let me live. Please let both of us live. Please.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“As I have stated before,” the doctor explained, “the illness the both of you have contracted is so extraordinarily unusual that no medicine currently available is likely to have any effect. I and the rest of the medical staff will do everything in our power to extend your lives, but you must know that it is extremely unlikely that we will succeed.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora exhaled, reeling from this information. She looked back at Aito, who now also had tears dripping down his face and was looking intently back at her with wide eyes. “If I’m going to die,” she said to the doctor, then interrupted herself with a choking, rasping cough. “If I’m going to die,” she continued. “Then can I please see Aito?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” said the doctor. “Exposing the two of you to each other is likely to only lessen the chances of the survival of either of you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora only sobbed harder, her chest heaving and her body shaking. “…Please!” she cried. “I’m begging you. Please… Please let… let me see him. I just want to see him. That’s all I want.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” said the doctor. “The answer is no. There is no need for you to see him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>…</span>
  <span>病名は愛だった…</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can’t do this!” shouted Aito, his voice cracking. He was looking straight up at the ceiling as a nurse took his temperature and recorded that it was still rising. “You have to let me see her!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have to do no such thing,” said the doctor. His calm tone made Aito clench his teeth. “The risk is too great.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t care,” Aito insisted, swatting a nurse’s hand away and sitting up with great difficulty. “Let me see Sora. If I have to die soon, at least let me have this one last thing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No.” The doctor stood and replaced Aito’s IV. “It would accomplish nothing. How could it? What purpose could it possibly have? What benefit could it possibly give?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What… benefit?” Aito asked, mouth open. “Are you serious?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes. There is no way that merely being in the presence of this woman could possibly do anything to improve your condition in any way, shape, or form.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes there is!” Aito insisted. He looked through the window and gazed ardently at Sora asleep in her bed. “I’m telling you right now – I need to see her. I need to.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No. You are incorrect. You do not need to see her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Augh!” Aito screamed, throwing up his hands. He began to feel lightheaded, but forced his brain to focus and his eyes to remain open. “You don’t understand!” His face began to grow red as he gestured wildly at the doctor and all of the nurses in the room. “None of you understand! You’ve never understood, and you never will understand what I’m experiencing right now!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Young man, calm down,” the doctor commanded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No!” Aito cried. “I won’t calm down! Because nobody in this goddamn place is listening to me!” Suddenly, Aito broke out in a violent, hacking coughing fit and collapsed onto the bed, his face burning hot.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is it necessary for me to sedate you?” asked the doctor sternly. A nurse stepped quickly forward as he spoke.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aito sighed and closed his eyes. “No. Just – no. Just leave. Leave me alone.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If it will help you to calm down, we shall do that,” said the doctor. Aito heard the sound of footsteps as the doctor and the nurses left the room. Prying his heavy eyelids open, he managed one last glance at Sora before his vision clouded and he slipped back into unconsciousness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>…</span>
  <span>病名は愛だった…</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora gasped as she awoke. She clutched her heart, which felt as if a thousand needles were piercing it. Looking around the room, she realized it was night. All was silent, still and dark.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As her eyes swept the room, they fell upon Aito’s bed in the next room. He was awake, sitting up and looking at her. Their eyes met. Sora’s heart felt as if it were being ripped from her chest, and she trembled like a leaf. Aito reached out a hand towards her, as if to take hold of her and pull her through the glass and close to himself, the pain on his face all too visible to Sora.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Suddenly, Sora stopped shaking. A cold pit settled in the middle of her stomach, and her face hardened. There was nothing more she wanted, she knew, than to be near him. She needed him more than any medicine any doctor could possibly give her. Looking through the glass, she made a resolution. Still gazing intently at Aito, Sora swallowed hard, pulled the bedclothes to the side and began to get up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She set her bare feet on the floor, her left leg still aching from her fall several nights prior. Her head swayed as she let go of the bed, but she managed to maintain her balance and stay on her feet. Aito was now also standing by his bed. Looking him directly in the eye, Sora took hold of the needle in her right arm which was attached to the IV, and, with a grimace of pain, swiftly removed it. Aito’s mouth dropped open slightly. Sora continued, removing the oxygen tube from her nose, lifting it over her head and dropping it to the floor. Mustering all of her strength, she lifted the large tank which held the oxygen flowing through the tube. Beginning to breathe hard, she looked back at Aito. Realization dawned on his face, and he gave a small nod. He did as she had done, removing the IV and oxygen tube and picking up the oxygen tank. His body strained with effort as he lifted it from the floor and lifted his head to look at Sora.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two advanced towards the window, each still carrying the large metal cylinder. They stood at opposite ends of the window, Sora at the left, Aito at the right. The choking sensation in her throat growing more intense, Sora looked at Aito. “One,” she saw him mouth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Two,” she nodded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Three.” With that, each swung their load directly into the window as hard as they could. A splintering crash was heard as the glass shattered into a million pieces, falling to the floor on either side of the window.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aito dropped the tank to the ground, the sound of the crash still echoing in his ears. “Sora!” he cried, reaching out for her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the weight of the tank dropped to the floor, Sora fell with it. She landed on several pieces of broken glass, but the pain from the cuts was nothing compared to what she already felt. “A… Aito…” she whispered weakly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aito scrambled through the gaping window, paying no regard to the jagged pieces of glass still remaining in the empty window frame. His ears were ringing, his heart was pounding, and his lungs were screaming.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora managed to get to her feet as Aito approached her. She held out her arms to him and, as he wrapped his arms tightly around her, she fell against him and melted into his arms. “Sora…” he whispered, stroking her hair. “My Sora…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, Aito…” Sora began to cry, tears trickling down her face and onto Aito’s back, making dark wet marks on his hospital gown. As her chest heaved with sobs, the pain only cut deeper into her heart. He clutched her tighter, clinging to her for dear life.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They were both shaking uncontrollably now. Aito fell to the floor, his lungs barely able to expand and contract. Sora followed, her head becoming heavier by the second. Their arms were still around each other.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aito…” gasped Sora. “I… I didn’t… want to die… without seeing you…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Neither did I,” Aito choked, tears now spilling from his eyes as well. “I didn’t… I couldn’t… let myself die… if I didn’t see you… one last time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aito’s whole world seemed to be spinning, and Sora’s face in his vision became blurry. He moved his face closer to hers, so that their foreheads touched. “Sora…” he said. “I… feel so much… for you. I… don’t know what it is… but… I care more about you… than anything else.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora’s heart, which before had been beating too slowly, now beat at such a rate that it made the blood roar in her ears. She reached up a hand and touched Aito’s face. Her touch was like fire on his skin. “I feel… the same,” she whispered. “I’ve never understood it… and I know now I never will… but it makes me want to be with you… all the time…” Suddenly, Sora became overwhelmed with dizziness and her head sagged.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sora!” Aito pulled her close to him and she rested her head on his shoulder.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, Aito…” she said quietly, looking up at him as he softly brushed her hair away from her face. “I know I have a fever… but I feel so very cold…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Both Aito and Sora began to feel faint. Their muscles began to fail them, and they were becoming breathless. The emotions coursing through their veins were becoming too much to bear. Slumping down to the floor, they lay on their sides, arms and legs intertwined, their faces directly opposite each other, each staring into the wide, teary eyes of the other.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sora…” said Aito quietly. All the color had drained from his face and it took every ounce of his being to keep his eyelids open. “You… you are the only reason… I kept holding on...”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Summoning the last bit of her strength, Sora moved closer to Aito and traced the outline of his tear-stained face with her hand. “I’m glad…,” she began breathlessly, interlacing her fingers with his. “I’m glad… we held on… for long enough…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>…病名は愛だった…</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Patient #12514:</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Name: Hisakawa, Aito</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gender: M</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Age: 18</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cause of death: fever</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Patient #18914</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Name: Nakamura, Sora</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gender: F</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Age: 18</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cause of death: fever</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>終わり</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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